SOUTH KOREA: Kogas to expand LNG storage terminal

(EnergyAsia, July 31, Friday) — State-owned Korea Gas Corp (Kogas) has announced plans to invest 739 billion won to expand its fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage terminal. (US$1=1,240 won). The company said it will soon start work on the terminal in Samcheok, a port city 290 km east of Seoul. It expects to complete...

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MARKET: Consultant predicts “brighter times” lie ahead for floating LNG business

(EnergyAsia, July 31, Friday) — Underpinned by compelling long-term fundamentals, the floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) business is poised to become a major sector, attracting expenditure of $23 billion through to 2016, said a leading consultant. The findings are contained in “The World FLNG Market Report 2010-2016”, Douglas-Westwood’s latest study, unveiled at the Commercializing FLNG...

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SOUTH KOREA: Samsung Engineering bags large Algerian contract

(EnergyAsia, July 31, Friday) — South Korea’s Samsung Engineering said it has secured a $2.6 billion contract to expand the refining capacity of Sonatrach, Algeria’s national oil company. It will rehabilitate the African firm’s oil refinery complex in the Skikda region in the northeast part of the country. “With our extensive project capability close to...

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MARKET: IEA cuts OPEC capacity growth forecast

(EnergyAsia, July 31, Friday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) has lowered its growth forecast of OPEC crude capacity to just 1.7 million b/d by 2014 or a little more than half its earlier forecast. The Paris-based agency blames growing “resource nationalism” in some member countries of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Late last...

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ASIA: LNG demand weak amid lingering supply glut

(EnergyAsia, July 31, Friday) — The near-term outlook for Asian demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) remains bleak, according to the latest projections by various analysts.  At the same time, there appears to be no let up in the regional supply glut. Asian LNG imports for May were down 12% from a year earlier. Japan’s...

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SINGAPORE: Ezra dives into high-growth deepwater subsea sector

(EnergyAsia, July 31, Friday) — Ezra Holdings Ltd, Asia’s largest integrated solutions provider for the offshore oil and gas industry, recently announced ambitious expansion plans that would establish it as a global player in the deepwater subsea segment. As part of its new growth strategy, the Singapore-listed company said it will offer its customers complete...

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MARKET: OPEC predicts mass shutdown of refineries

(EnergyAsia, July 31, Friday) — Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said the global refining capacity will surpass demand by five million barrels per day by 2014, forcing the temporary or even permanent shutdown of refineries. “Closures in the order of 7 to 10 million b/d will be needed, predominantly in the US, Canada and...

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AUSTRALIA: Suart Petroleum’s oil sales, production in line with forecasts

(EnergyAsia, July 31, Friday) — Australia-listed Stuart Petroleum Limited said it continued to improve its financial position during the June quarter of 2009 while progressing its Oliver oilfield appraisal and development project and Port Bonython fuel storage project. Its latest quarterly sales revenue of A$8.2 million and production of 75,236 barrels were in line with...

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AUSTRALIA: Argus links North West Shelf condensate assessments to North Sea Dated crude

(EnergyAsia, July 30, Thursday) — Energy pricing media Argus said it has begun assessing Australia’s North West Shelf (NWS) condensate as a differential to Atlantic basin marker North Sea Dated from July 13. This is in response to the increasing use of North Sea Dated-linked prices in Asia-Pacific crude trade. More Asia-Pacific crudes are trading...

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CHINA: Trader Brightoil to build oil product storage tanks

(EnergyAsia, July 30, Thursday) — Privately-owned Chinese oil trader Brightoil Petroleum plans to build a 2.2-million cubic metre storage terminal for refined fuels at Zhoushan port in eastern China.   The proposed terminal would increase Zhousan’s product storage capacity to 14 million barrels, according to the company’s agreement with the city port’s local government. Zhoushan...

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GHANA: Plans to triple oil refining capacity

(EnergyAsia, July 30, Thursday) — Africa’s emerging economic powerhouse, Ghana, is planning to more than triple its oil refining capacity to about 145,000 b/d.   The country’s only refinery, with a capacity of 45,000 b/d, is located near its capital Accra, and covers just 70% of Ghana’s domestic requirement.   The new refining capacity would...

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INDIA: Chemoil to boost bunker sales at Indian ports

(EnergyAsia, July 30, Thursday) — Chemoil Energy, the Singapore-listed marine fuel supplier and trader, is looking to boost its market share in India.   The company aims to double its sales in India’s Mundra port to 100,000 tonnes per month by the end of 2009, while seeking to expand into other Indian ports at the...

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JAPAN: Mitsui and Brazil’s Petrobas study refinery project

(EnergyAsia, July 30, Thursday) — Brazil’s state oil and gas firm Petrobras and Japan’s Mitsui & Co are studying the feasibility of building and operating an oil refinery in Brazil’s northeastern Ceara state.   The US$11 billion project could add to at least three other proposed refineries, and turn Brazil into a major exporter of...

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ASIA: ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea discuss plans for building up oil stockpiles

(EnergyAsia, July 30, Thursday) — Senior energy officials from 13 Asian countries are in Myanmar this week to develop regional ties and focus on stockpiling oil for emergency use. Representatives of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are meeting with their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea in Myanmar’s second largest city...

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CHINA: CNPC provides update on refinery projects in Costa Rica, Algeria

(EnergyAsia, July 30, Thursday) — China’s CNPC said it has concluded separate refinery deals in Algeria and Costa Rica. It said it has completed building a 10,000-b/d condensate splitter in eastern Algeria under an engineering and construction contract worth $385 million. The project started in 2006. The company announced that a subsidiary, China National Petroleum...

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SINGAPORE: Bumi Armada’s second FPSO headed for Nigeria operations

(EnergyAsia, July 30, Thursday) — Malaysia’s Bumi Armada Bhd, owner and operator of the country’s largest fleet of offshore vessels, said its second floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, the Armada Perdana, has set sail to operate in offshore Nigeria.  The company held a sail-away ceremony for the 1988-converted vessel at the Keppel Shipyard (more…)

SOUTH AFRICA: US$5 billion needed to upgrade refineries

(EnergyAsia, July 29, Wednesday) — South Africa needs to invest nearly US$5 billion to upgrade its refineries to produce clean fuels in time to meet the government’s 2012 deadline. The new rules will likely be phased in to ensure that markets are not disrupted and refiners can raise the financing and cope with the work...

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INDIA: IOC to invest 135 billion rupees in downstream plants this fiscal year

(EnergyAsia, July 29, Wednesday) — Indian Oil Corp (IOC) said it raise investment spending by 23% to 135 billion rupees in the current fiscal year ending March 2010 to upgrade and increase its refining and chemical capacities. (US$1=48 rupees). Through 2012, IOC expects to boost its oil refining and chemical production capacities by a third...

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CHINA: Advanced wins S$17 million worth of refinery and petrochemical contracts

(EnergyAsia, July 29, Wednesday) — Advanced Holdings Ltd, a Singapore-based supplier of proprietary process equipment, clean energy solutions and environmental technologies, said it has secured three new refinery and petrochemical contracts worth a total of S$17 million. (US$1=S$1.45). Two of the projects awarded by PetroChina, the country’s largest oil and gas producer, were for petrochemical...

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INDIA: Middle East oil producers invited to set up crude storage facilities

(EnergyAsia, July 29, Wednesday) — The Indian government will offer to sign up long-term crude oil purchase contracts with Middle Eastern producers if they agree to help set up large crude oil storage facilities along the country’s long coastline. Saudi Aramco, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co and National Iranian Oil Companies are...

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COMPANIES: More companies leasing tankers to store oil products

(EnergyAsia, July 29, Wednesday) — More companies are joining the bandwagon to store oil in tankers and vessels as a way to make a quick profit. The latest players executing the store-for-trade strategy include Nobel Group, Barclays Capital, Southern Petrochemical Co Ltd, Strong Petroleum, Itochu Petroleum, Vitol Holding BV, JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM), Gunvor...

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CHINA: CNOOC and Sinopec unit jointly acquire 20% interest in Angolan oil field

(EnergyAsia, July 29, Wednesday) — China’s CNOOC Limited said it and Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corp have agreed to jointly acquire a 20% working interest in the production sharing contract (PSC) and joint operating agreement in an offshore field in Angola. The transaction with a Marathon Oil Corp subsidiary for Block 32 is...

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AZERBAIJAN: BP and SOCAR sign MOU to explore new Caspian acreage

(EnergyAsia, July 29, Wednesday) — BP and the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) said they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly explore and develop the Shafag and Asiman structures in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. As part of the government’s plan to ensure that all of...

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INDIA: Reliance cracks US gasoline market

(EnergyAsia, July 29, Wednesday) — Mumbai, India-based refiner Reliance Industries Ltd has started selling fuel to the US through oil trader Hess Corp. Hess hired tanker King Douglas which delivered a cargo of Reliance-produced gasoline to New York city recently. The gasoline came from Reliance’s 580,000 b/d refinery in Gujarat province in western India. Even...

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THAILAND: Rotary Engineering secures S$48m contract to build ammonia storage tank and facilities

(EnergyAsia, July 28, Tuesday) — Singapore-listed Rotary Engineering Limited said it has inked an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract worth S$48 million with Thailand’s PTT Tank Terminal Company Limited for a tank terminal project. The contract was secured through Rotary’s Thai unit, REL-TREL joint venture, for the construction of an ammonia storage tank and...

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